Marcos Sets Up Fuel-Food Watch Team as Mideast Tension Heats Up

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has ordered the creation of a crisis committee to keep the country's food and fuel supply stable while the conflict in the Middle East continues to shake global markets.

Malacañang said the goal is simple: make sure essential goods like petroleum products and food keep moving without disruption, even as world oil prices keep climbing. Officials stressed that the Philippines is dealing with a price disruption, not a supply shortage, at least for now.

According to Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro, the country still has sufficient oil supply. But under the Oil Deregulation Law, local pump prices still follow international benchmark prices, so consumers can still feel the sting kahit may inventory pang naunang nabili at mas mura noon.

Labor groups want workers represented in the new body, saying employees are usually among the first to get hit by inflation and transport costs. The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines warned that a crisis committee that ignores workers could miss the real pain on the ground.

In the Senate, Sherwin Gatchalian and JV Ejercito separately pushed for contingency planning, including preparation for a worst-case scenario where the war drags on for months and oil prices spike even higher. For now, the government is also looking at added fuel imports and other measures to soften the blow.

Source: https://www.manilatimes.net/2026/03/24/news/national/marcos-to-create-crisis-committee-on-food-fuel/2305794